You’re just coming out of the shower and the hotel’s front desk is delivering the item you requested. Are you going to be embarrassed when you open the door dripping wet with nothing on but a towel? What about the person delivering? I know someone who worked at a hotel and they hated it when people answered naked (with no towel) for weirdness, fun or spite. It happens way more often than you think. Plus, a lot of hotel guests are comfortable answering a door in their undies when hotel staff would simply prefer they cover up.

There is a better way…indoor robot deliveries. For the person who is concerned about answering the door with bed head, without makeup, or in some less-than-ideal state, the experience of opening up to a robot with a delivery surpasses interacting with a human. AND the robot won’t expect you to pull a tip out of your undies.

Relay by Savioke is an indoor delivery robot making deliveries in about 30 locations today in the US and Singapore. Check out this interview with Savioke CEO Steve Cousins where he talks about Relay, a robot that can get to your door in 5 minutes vs 25+ minutes for a member of the hotel staff. Relay also doesn’t care if you’re naked!

One thing I mention in the video that I want to point out here is that by combining a wearable shirt/pant with sensors with the wearable VR headset, Enflux is creating Wearable Alpha, additional value from more than one wearable interacting (the shirt/pant and VR headset). This ties in with my third wearable prediction, you can read more about Wearable Alpha here.

Ever lose your car parked somewhere? I actually did for the first time a few weeks ago in San Francisco (hilly neighborhood too so it wasn’t exactly fun when my car was on the other block). I met the Nonda team at the SVIEF expo and their CEO Nick Staubach explained how the Nonda ZUS product works. It’s pretty sleek and a cool concept. Even if you never lose your car you still get two powerful USB charging spots.

Apple released a new feature in iOS 10 if your car already has Bluetooth it will keep track of it, but most of the cars on the road today don’t have Bluetooth and not everyone has an iPhone w/the latest OS so ZUS still has a niche. Perhaps it belongs in the stocking of your prone-to-lose-their-car friend or family member?

For parents who want to encourage their kids to do better at brushing their teeth, what do you think about a smart toothbrush? Check out this video with Ethan Schur from Grush The Gaming Toothbrush for Kids. It turns brushing teeth into a video game for kids by integrating sensor technology in the battery part that does the vibrating. I’m going to see how this does with my kids, there are three heads for the toothbrush in the box so it works out for my IoT loving kids.

In the video Ethan gives a discount code GRUSHBUDDY for 20% off at www.GrushGamer.com. (I tested the code and you enter the coupon code right before payment and it works).

Tianya Zorpia

Silicon Valley is about innovative ideas, and they come from all over the world. This is a short conversation with Frank Zheng from Tianya Zorpia where he explains a bit about how he helps with the bridge between China and Silicon Valley.

Good news everybody, the smart home is getting easier! Last week I became the proud owner of an iDevices smart switch thanks to having been one of the first listeners to the Home:On podcast to respond to a giveaway. The setup of that switch was so easy I had to show you and in this video I do just that.

First I demo the switch I already have, then setup of the new switch begins at minute 1:20 and finishes at minute 6:25. I did run into a little bit of confusion when I added the new switch when it didn’t immediately asked me to scan the HomeKit code. I eventually figured that out but I don’t know exactly if that was my problem or the iDevices app. It doesn’t matter though, because it was less than 5 minutes which is WONDERFUL.

I’m heavily UX/UI driven and the unbox/setup process is crucial to success in non-early adopter markets. This is by far the easiest un-boxing of a consumer Internet of things product for the connected home for any product I have brought home to date.
You can find out more about iDevices and their other products on their website. This switch is $49. No one paid me to do this video so I guess they’re getting some free advertising in return for the free switch!

Light Litter!!! Have you ever noticed outdoor lights on during broad daylight in roadways and buildings? That is an example of ‪#‎LightLitter‬. These street lights in San Jose between Moorpark and Stevens Creek on Winchester Avenue were on at 9:30am on Thursday, August 11, 2016.

If the timer is out of sync with sunrise/sunset, that may mean they are OFF at night when they should be ON. It doesn’t have to be that way, IoT and Smart City solutions can solve this problem, putting technology to work for municipalities around the world.

Emerging technologies, including Internet of Things technologies, are enabling building owners, operators and managers to leverage technology to impact asset NOI. This weekend I was a guest on the ControlTrends videocast and podcast with hosts Kenneth Smyers and Eric Stromquist. ControlTrends is a weekly show exploring the future of HVAC and building system controls, including emerging technologies.

In the podcast we talk about

Solar power and the recent completion of the Solar Impulse mission

Teslas opening of the gigafactory where the battery production factory will be covered with solar panels